The Invisible Russia-Ukraine Battlefield | WIRED

Clark told Wired that the Russian system “is not very mobile and not very distributed.” Their large systems, which are relatively small in number, “have no real role in combat,” Clark said.

Moscow’s strategy assumes a relatively static battle space. On the front lines they will deploy faunaa heavily armored vehicle targeted at radio communications. Further out, about 15 miles from the front, they would send Study 3a six-wheeled truck is capable of not only jamming cellular networks, but also intercepting communications and even Forward text messages to nearby phones. Farther out, within a range of about 180 miles, fire truck-sized Krasuka-4 Can disrupt airborne sensors.

“As you get closer to the front, you get electronic weather,” Clark said. “Your GPS doesn’t work, your phone doesn’t work, your Starlink doesn’t work.”

Clark explains that this electromagnetic no-man’s land happens when you “barrage.” But there’s a big trade-off, he said. Jamming across the spectrum requires more power, as does jamming over a wider geographical area. The more capable a system is, the larger it must be. So you can disrupt all communications within the target area, or some communications further away, but not necessarily both.

Move quickly and block items

Early in the war, the Russian military was marred by poor communication, poor planning, and a general slowness in adapting. Even so, it gained a big lead. “Unfortunately, the enemy has numerical and material advantages,” a representative of Ukrainian defense technology startup UP Innovations told Wired in a written statement.

As a result, Ukraine has developed two complementary strategies: produce large quantities of cheaper electronic warfare solutions and make them iterative and adaptable.

For example, Ukraine’s Bukovel-AD counter-drone system can fit comfortably in the back of a pickup truck. this Ettel The suitcase-sized system can detect jamming signals from Russian electronic warfare systems, allowing Ukraine to target them with artillery. Ukrainian electronic warfare company Kvertus currently produces 15 different counter-drone systems, ranging from drone jamming backpacks to stationary equipment that can be mounted on radio towers to defend against drone intrusions.

When all-out war begins in 2022, Kvertus has a product: a shoulder-fired anti-drone gun like the EDM4S. “In 2022, [we were producing] Kvertus CEO Yaroslav Filimonov told me this March when we sat in his Kiev office. “By 2023, that number was in the hundreds. Now? Thousands.